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THE  ROBERT   E.  COWAN  COLLECTION 


PRESENTED   TO   THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CHUFORNIR 

nv 

C.  P.  HUNTINGTON 

JUNE.    1897. 

Accession  No :pffpj$ 


NEW  PUBLICATION.     A  BOOK  FOR  TEACHERS. 


SWETT'S  SCHOOL  ELOCUTION 

By  JOHN    SWETT. 

Principal  of  San  Francisco  High  and  Normal  School  ;  <  x-State  Supt. 

of  Public  Instruction,  State  of  California  ;  Author  of 

"  Method  of  Teaching  ;"  and  a  co-Editor  of 

BANCROFT'S  HEADERS. 


A  Manual  of  Vocal  Training  for  Use  in  High  Schools, 
Normal  Schools  and  Academies. 


We  call  the  special  attention  of  High  School  Teachers  and 
Private  Teachers  to  this  fresh,  original  and  practical  book. 
All  other  teachers  who  desire  to  study  the  best  modern 
methods  of  training  in  reading  and  elocution  are  invited  to 
examine  it. 

STRIKING   FEATURES. 

The  salient  points  of  this  book  are  : 

1st. — It  can  be  used  by  teachers  not  specialists  in  elocu- 
tion. 

2d. — It  is  simple,  clear  and  concise. 

3d. — The  drill  exercises  ars  numerous,  original  and  useful. 

4th. — The  selectious  for  declamations  ana  select  readings 
are  of  the  highest  order  of  literary  and  elocutionary  merit. 

5th. — It  is  kept  within  the  comprehension  of  average  high 
school  pupils. 

6th. — It  is  a  solid,  practical  bock,  without  hobbies  or 
eccentricities. 

Retail  Price,  -  -  $1.50 

Note  to  Teachers. — We  will  mail  single  copies  of  this  book 
to  teachers  for  examination  for  $1.00. 

A.  L.  BANCROFT  &  CO,,  Publishers, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 


FOR  USE  IN 


SCHOOLS    AND    FAMILIES. 


MONTAGUE  R.  LEVERSON,  Dr.  Ph.,  M.  A., 

AUTHOR    OF    "  COPYRIGHT    AND    PATENTS,    OB    PROPERTY    IN    THOUGHT,' 

"THE  RATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  LEGAL,  PROCEDURE,"    "COMMON 

SENSE,   OR  FIRST  STEPS  IN  POLITICAL    ECONOMY," 

"THE  AMERICAN  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION," 

"  NATIONAL  SCHOOLS,"   ETC. 


San  Francisco  : 

A.  L.   BANCROFT  &  COMFANY. 

1885. 


Entered  according  to  Act  oT  Congress,  in  the  year  1885,  by 

Montague  R.  Leverson, 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE. 


In  "  Common  Sense,  or  First  Steps  in  Political 
Economy,"  the  author  evolved  the  virtues  of 
industry,  skill,  economy,  honesty,  and  general 
trustworthiness,  from  an  objective  examination 
of  man  in  society,  ancTproved  them  essential  to 
human  well-being  and  the  happiness  of  the  in- 
dividual. On  this  basis  of  moral  science  was 
established  the  structure  of  political  economy 
which  he  presented  in  that  work  in  a  form 
adapted  to  the  understanding  of  the  young. 

That  political,  or,  as  it  is  better  termed,  social, 
economy  should  be  not  merely  connected  with 
but  actually  founded  upon  moral  science,  will 
no  doubt  surprise  those  who  have  studied  eco- 
nomic science  only  from  the  text-books  ordinarily 
used  in  our  colleges,  or  from  the  elaborate  works 
of  the  masters  of  the  science. 

Mr.  William  Ellis  was  the  first  to  show  the 
intimate  dependence  of  economic  upon  moral 
science,  and  he  relieved  the  former  from  the  char- 
acter of  "the  dismal  science,"  which  had  been 


iv  PREFACE. 

imposed  upon  it  by  writers  of  influence  who  had 
failed  to  understand  it.  So  far  from  being  a  dis- 
mal science,  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  William  Ellis 
and  of  his  disciples  children  of  even  less  than 
ten  years  became  interested  in  its  study. 

A  want  universally  felt  by  educators,  as  ex- 
« isting  in  our  American  school  system,  has  been 
a  means  of  imparting  moral  instruction  to  its 
pupils.  The  moral  science,  which  forms  the  real 
basis  of  economic  science,  seems  to  the  author  *to 
be  calculated  to  supply  this  want,  and  he  has 
prepared  the  Primer  of  Morals  as  a  text-book 
for  the  teaching  of  morals  to  the  young. 

It  is  believed  that  there  is  not  any  book  in 
existence  which  attempts  to  supply  the  vacancy 
in  our  system  everywhere  recognized  to  exist, 
consequently  this  Primer  has  no  competitor  to 
displace,  no  jealous  rivalry  to  overcome;  supply- 
ing a  universally  felt  want,  its  utility  he  hopes 
will  be  as  extensive  as  the  Union. 

Its  use  in  the  lower  grades  of  grammar  schools 
should  be  exclusively  as  a  teachers'  manual.  Its 
lessons  should  be  imparted  by  the  Socratic 
method  of  teaching,  and,  to  aid  the  teacher  in 
this  task,  an  unusually  large  number  of  ques- 
tions have  been  placed  at  the  end  of  each  chapter. 
The  earnest  teacher  will  not  content  himself  with 
these,  but  will  frame  many  more ;  for,  "line  upon 
line,  precept  upon  precept,  here  a  little  and  there 


PREFACE.  v 

a  little,"  all  teaching,  and  that  of  morals  in  par- 
ticular, must  be  impressed  upon  the  young  from 
innumerable  points  of  view,  and  illustrated  with 
reiterated  instances. 

In  all  except  the  lower  grades,  the  Primer  can, 
it  is  believed,  be  profitably  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  children  for  study.  This  belief  is  founded 
on  the  fact  that,  to  the  author's  knowledge,  many 
children  of  eleven  years  of  age  and  upwards  have 
voluntarily  taken  up  and  studied  "  Common 
Sense,  or  First  Steps  in  Political  Economy." 
The  Primer  is  believed  to  be  both  easier  to  be 
understood,  and  more  attractive  in  many  respects, 
than  is  that  work. 

That  it  may  prove  useful,  and  tend  to  advance 
the  progress  and  happiness  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
is  the  desire  of 

THE  AUTHOR, 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  pAGE 

Comforts  Surrounding  Children  in  the  United 
States — How  Procured— History  of  a  Stock- 
ing—Idea and  Name  of  Wealth — Importance 
of   the    Correct    Use    of    Words   to    Express 

Ideas, 9 

Review  Questions,     -        -        -        -        -        -        -        15 

CHAPTER  II. 

Some  Necessaries  not  Produced  by  Labor  and  not 
Included  in  the  Term  "Wealth" — Earth,  Air, 
Water,  when  They  are  not  and  when  They 
are  Wealth — Production,  What  It  is — Labor 
Creates  Nothing — It  Changes  the  Position  of 
Matter — We  Live  ox  the  Products  of  Past 
Labor— Ideas  of  Economy,  Skill,  and  Knowl- 
edge Evolved,  and  Names  Given,       -        -        -     17 

Review  Questions, 30 

CHAPTER  III. 

Division  of  Labor — Increased  Efficiency  Resulting 
from— Co-operation— Household  Labors— Train- 
ing of  the  Young — Special  Fitness  of  Women 
for  Certain  Labors,      ...        -  33 

Review  Questions, 39 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV.  page 

Interchange — Necessity  of  Considering  and  Satis- 
fying the  Wants  of  Others,        -        -        -        -    41 
Review  Questions, 44 

CHAPTER   V. 

Protection  to  Life  and  Property — Honesty — Small 
Efficiency  of  Governments  —  Conscience  the 
Most  Efficient  Police — Effects  of  Dishonesty 
—  Demoralizing  Influence  of  Successful  Dis- 
honesty, -  45 

Review  Questions, 52 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Young  not  Possessed  of  Wealth — Their  Wants 
Supplied — Sale  and  Purchase  of  Labor— Sell- 
ers of  Labor  and  not  the  Wealth  Possessors 
Have  the  Enjoyment  of  the  Portion  of  the 
Latter's  Wealth  Employed  in  Production- 
Wages  —  Capital  —  Interest  —  Average  Wages 
Determined  by  Productiveness  —  Individual 
Wages;  how  Determined, 55 

Review  Questions, 70 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Profit — Its    Uncertainty — Analysis    of    Profit — 

Rates,    how   Determined,    -  -72 

Review  Questions,     -  78 

Conclusion, 79 

Review  Questions, -        83 


Primer  of  Morals. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Comforts  Surrounding  Children  in  the  United  States 
— How  Procured— History  of  a  Stocking— Idea 
and  Name  of  Wealth — Importance  of  the  Correct 
Use  of  Words  to  Express  Ideas. 

1.  The  Comforts  of  Children  in  the  United 
States. — The  children  of  this  favored  land 
rise  every  morning  from  a  comfortable  bed 
to  find  ready  to  their  hands  clothes  to  put 
on,  soap,  towel,  water  (often  brought  from 
a  great  distance),  combs,  and  brushes,  all 
for  their  comfort  and  cleanliness. 

Having  washed  and  dressed,  they  help, 
if  old  enough  and  in  good  health,  in  kin- 
dling the  fires  and  sweeping  and  cleaning 
the  rooms  and  furniture ;  they  brush  their 


10  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

boots  and  shoes,  and  help  to  make  ready 
the  breakfast  for  the  family. 

Having  breakfasted,  they  gather  their 
books  together  and  go  to  school.  There 
they  find  a  school-room,  generally  well 
warmed,  supplied  with  fresh,  pure  air,  and 
fitted  with  desks,  maps,  charts,  slates,  and 
many  other  things  to  add  to  their  comfort, 
or  to  help  them  in  gaining  knowledge, 
while  a  kind  and  earnest  teacher  is  waiting 
to  help  them  in  the  hard  places,  and  make 
their  lessons  plain  and  easy. 

The  school  session  over,  the  children  re- 
turn home  to  a  loving  father  and  mother, 
who  are  happy  when  their  children  are 
happy,  and  are  always  ready  to  try  to  save 
them  from  trouble  or  harm. 

At  home  they  again  find  food  ready  for 
them,  and  after  learning  a  few  easy  lessons 
for  the  morrow,  and  spending  some  time 
in  playing  with  dolls,  or  balls,  bats,  tops, 
or  skates,  they  bathe  in  a  tub  of  water, 
hot  or  cold,  as  may  be  best  for  their  health 
and  cleanliness,  and  go  to  bed  without  any 
fear  lest  any  one  of  the  comforts  enjoyed  to- 
day should  be  wanting  to  them  on  the 
morrow. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  11 

2.  Children  have  become  so  used  to  all 
these  comforts  and  enjoyments,  that  they 
do  not  think  how  much  time  has  been 
spent,  and  how  much  labor  done,  not  only 
by  their  parents,  but  by  many  other  per- 
sons also,  in  order  to  get  these  things  for 
them,  and  they  give  little  thought  to  the 
difficulties  which  had  to  be  overcome  to 
bring  many  of  the  things  they  use  from 
different  parts  of  the  world. 

3.  Let  us  take  up  one  of  the  articles  in 
common  use  among  children,  say  a  pair 
of  woolen  stockings,  and  trace  its  history 
from  its  beginning  until  it  is  brought  to 
them  for  use.  Let  us  also  see  what  kind  of 
men  and  women  they  must  be  by  whom 
the  stocking  is  produced  and  supplied  to 
the  children. 

4.  History  of  a  Stocking. — The  wool  of 
which  the  stocking  is  woven  was  grown 
on  sheep,  raised  with  much  care  and  labor, 
perhaps  in  California,  Oregon,  New  Mexico, 
Texas,  Colorado,  Iowa  or  Ohio,  or  pos- 
sibly in  Australia  or  the  Cape  of  Q-ood 
Hope.  Sheared  in  due  season,  it  has  been 
transported  in  cars  drawn  by  locomotives, 


12  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

or  carried  in  ships  (the  building  of  all  of 
which  had  occupied  many  men  for  many 
months)  to  the  ports  of  New  York,  Boston, 
or  Liverpool;  where  depots,  piers,  docks, 
and  warehouses  have  been  laboriously  con- 
structed for  the  reception  of  the  cars  and 
ships,  and  for  the  storage  of  the  wool  until 
the  manufacturer  is  ready  to  use  it. 

5.  To  the  manufacturer  the  wool  is  car- 
ried over  a  road  which  crosses  broad  and 
deep  rivers,  spans  valleys,  bores  through 
mountains,  and  cost  in  building  the  labor 
of  many  times  more  men  for  many  times 
more  months  than  did  the  building  of  the 
ship. 

6.  Having  now  reached  the  factory,  the 
changes  the  wool  has  to  undergo  to  fit  it 
as  a  covering  for  the  feet  may  be  said  to 
commence. 

7.  First  it  is  picked  and  cleaned,  then 
carded  in  a  machine  which  has  been  pro- 
duced by  great  labor  on  the  part  of  many 
laborers,  driven  by  an  engine,  also  the  prod- 
uct of  much  labor  and  skill,  while  fuel  has 
been  dug  out  of  the  earth  or  cut  down  from 
forests,  and  laboriously  transported  to  the 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  13 

engine,  in  order  that  this  latter  may  drive 
the  carding  machine. 

8.  The  wool  is  then  spun  on  a  spinning 
machine,  driven  by  an  engine  which  is  fed 
by  fuel,  all  the  products  of  great  labor  and 
skill. 

9.  The  wool  is  now  converted  into  a 
thread,  to  which  the  name  of  "yarn"  is 
given,  and  this  yarn  is  next  dyed,  and  then 
woven  on  a  loom  or  knitted  into  a  stock- 
ing. 

"  10.  The  stocking  is  now  transported  to 
the  warehouse  of  the  wholesale  dealer, 
and  by  him  distributed  over  the  country 
among  the  storekeepers,  so  that  they  may 
have  at  hand  a  supply  to  meet  the  demand 
of  the  parents  of  the  children  by  whom  the 
stockings  are  to  be  worn. 

11.  In  a  like  manner  may  be  traced  the 
history  of  all  other  articles  of  clothing: 
pants,  shirts,  drawers,  dresses,  jackets, 
boots,  shoes,  and  hats. 

12.  So,  too,  all  articles  of  food — milk, 
bread,  meat,  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  spices,  and 
condiments — may  in  a  like  manner  be 
traced   from    the    commencement    of   the 


14  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

labor  of  their  production  until  they  appear 
upon  the  table. 

13.  Products  of  Labor. — It  will  be  seen 
that  none  of  them  can  be  produced  ex- 
cept by  the  expenditure  of  great  amounts  of 
labor. 

Houses  for  shelter,  school-houses  as 
places  of  instruction,  factories  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  tools,  machinery,  clothing,  and 
furniture,  granaries  and  warehouses  for 
storage,  roads  and  railroads,  canals,  cars, 
and  ships,  for  the  distribution  of  commod- 
ities among  manufacturers,  traders,  and 
consumers,  as  well  as  the  stores  in  which 
they  are  kept  until  needed  to  be  eaten, 
worn,  or  used,  all  cost  great  labor  for  their 
construction  and  maintenance. 

All  these  things  above  enumerated,  and 
many  besides,  which  we  call  the  necessa- 
ries and  comforts  of  life,  are  produced  by 
labor,  and  can  only  be  so  produced. 

14.  Wealth. — We  have  now  acquired  an 
important  thought;  viz.,  that  the  necessa- 
ries and  comforts  of  life  are  produced  by 
labor,  and  to  the  things  thus  produced  the 
name  of  "wealth"  has  been  given. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  15 

15.  It  is  essential  to  the  right  under- 
standing of  any  subject  that  the  learner 
should  have  a  clear  and  definite  idea  of 
the  meaning  of  the  language  employed  in 
its  discussion. 

16.  This  necessity  is  nowhere  greater 
than  in  the  study  of  the  conditions  of 
human  well-being;  let  it  therefore  be  re- 
membered, that  by  the  term  "wealth"  is 
meant  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life 
produced  by  labor,  and  that  to  the  things 
included  in  the  expression  "the  necessa- 
ries and  comforts  of  life  produced  by  la- 
bor/' the  name  "wealth,"  and  no  other, 
will  be  applied. 

17.  We  shall  find  by  and  by  that  wealth 
exists  under  different  conditions,  or  is  ap- 
plied to  various  uses;  we  shall  hereafter 
analyze  wealth,  i.  e.,  divide  it  into  its  com- 
ponent parts;  and  we  shall  give  a  special 
name  to  any  portion  of  wealth  of  which  we  " 
may  need  to  speak,  without  including  any 
other. 

REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 

1. 

Name  some  of  the  comforts  enjoyed  by  children  in  the 
United  States.    Have  you  given  much  thought  to  the  labor 

If  OF  THE 

fi    TTTsTTTrTTX3C!TT-«\7- 


16  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

required  to  be  performed  to  supply  you  with  those  com- 
forts ?    If  not,  why  not  ? 

4-12. 
Give  the  history  of  a  woolen  stocking,  of  a  cotton  shirt, 
of  a  stove,  of  a  locomotive,  of  a  plow,  of  a  loaf  of  bread, 
of  a  loom,  of  a  sewing  machine,  of  a  cup  of  cocoa,  coffee, 
or  tea,  etc. 

12-13. 

What  is  a  plow?  A  spinning  machine?  A  carding 
machine  ?  A  spade  ?  A  pair  of  scissors  ?  A  sewing  ma- 
chine ?  What  do  men  plow  ?  What  do  men  dig  ?  When 
do  men  plow  rather  than  dig,  and  when  do  they  dig 
rather  than  plow?  What  do  men  spin?  Card?  Weave? 
What,  with  what,  how,  and  why  do  men  plow,  dig,  spin, 
card,  weave,  quarry,  build,  mine,  forge,  bake,  boil,  brew, 
cut,  sew,  fit,  wash,  write,  print,  and  publish  ? 

14. 

What  name  is  given  to  include  all  the  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life  produced  by  labor?    Define  wealth. 

Note.  —  This  first  chapter  is  a  very  important  one,  and 
too  much  pains  cannot  be  bestowed  upon  its  elucidation 
until  the  pupils  have  thoroughly  mastered  it.  The  younger 
the  pupils  the  more  objectively  and  fully  the  subjects 
referred  to  should  be  treated.  Models  or  drawings  of 
the  industrial  implements  spoken  of,  and  of  any  others 
which  may  suggest  themselves  to  the  teacher,  should  be 
procured  or  made,  and  the  interest  of  the  pupils  awakened 
and  kept  alive  by  presenting  in  new  and  varied  aspects 
the  objects  common  to  their  every-day  life. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  17 


CHAPTER  II. 

Some  Necessaries  not  Produced  by  Labor  and  not 
Included  in  the  Term  "Wealth" — Earth,  Air, 
Water,  when  They  are  not  and  when  They  are 
Wealth— Production,  What  It  is— Labor  Creates 
Nothing— It  Changes  the  Position  op  Matter— 
We  Live  on  the  Products  op  Past  Labor— Ideas 
op  Economy,  Skill,  and  Knowledge  Evolved,  and 
Names  Given. 

18.  Some  Necessaries  not  Wealth. — We 
have  seen  that  most  of  the  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life  are  produced  by  labor,  to 
these  the  name  of  "  wealth "  has  been  ap- 
plied; but  there  are  some  necessaries  which 
are  not  produced  by  labor;  such  are  the 
earth,  air,  and  water. 

19.  But  although  the  earth,  air,  and 
water,  in  their  natural  places  and  condi- 
tions, do  not  come  within  our  definition  of 
wealth  (for,  though  necessaries  of  life,  they 
are  not  produced  by  labor),  there  are  cir- 


18  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

cumstances  under  which  they  come  within 
our  definition. 

20.  In  coal  mines,  in  the  diving-bell,  in 
the  driving  of  tunnels,  fresh  air  is  supplied 
to  the  miner,  to  the  diver,  and  to  the  exca- 
vator at  the  cost  of  considerable  labor,  and 
the  cost  of  supplying  it  in  these  cases 
enters  largely  into  the  cost  of  producing 
the  coal,  building  the  pier,  dock,  or  bridge, 
and  in  cutting  the  tunnel. 

The  water  we  need  for  drinking,  cleans- 
ing, cooking,  or  other  purposes  is  generally 
brought  with  no  little  labor  to  the  place 
where  it  is  used. 

The  earth  must  be  cultivated  and  im- 
proved before  it  will  give  its  fruits  in 
abundance.  In  all  these  cases,  air,  water, 
and  earth  are  wealth,  because  they  are  pro- 
duced in  the  place  where  or  in  the  condi- 
tion in  which  they  are  required  by  labor. 

21.  The  justice  of  including  these  within 
our  definition  will  become  manifest  when 
we  examine  a  little  closely  what  man's 
labor  really  does  towards  the  production 
of  food,  clothing,  fuel,  shelter,  and  other 
articles  of  use  or  enjoyment. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  19 

22.  What  Labor  Does.  —  Labor  *  creates 
nothing.  It  can  only  change  the  relative 
positions  of  particles  of  matter. 

In  plowing,  man  breaks  up  the  soil  and 
exposes  it  to  the  action  of  the  air.  To 
manure  it,  he  transports  matter  containing 
fertilizing  particles  from  a  place  where 
these  particles  are  in  excess,  and  spreads 
the  matter  upon  his  field  where  they  are 
deficient.  He  sows  the  seed;  that  is,  he 
deposits  another  form  of  matter  in  the 
ground  thus  improved,  and  if  he  has 
plowed  and  manured  his  field  and  selected 
and  sown  the  seed  with  due  regard  to  cli- 
mate, soil,  and  nature'  of  the  plant,  and 
continues  diligently  to  weed,  and  where 
necessary  to  irrigate,  his  land,  he  has  rea- 
son, from  past  experience,  to  expect  to 
garner  a  bounteous  harvest. 

The  corn,  wheat,  or  other  grain  which 
is  the  product  of  the  labor  of  the  farmer 
is  ground  into  meal  or  floury  salt,  water, 
and  yeast  are  mixed  with  it,  the  whole  is 
kneaded  thoroughly  together,  and  the  mix- 
ture is  then  baked  in  an  oven;  no  new  or 
additional  element  or  atom  of  matter  is 


20  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

brought  into  existence,  but  by  a  change  in 
the  relative  positions  of  particles  of  matter 
a  combination  is  produced  to  which  the 
name  " bread"  is  given;  and  which,  in  this 
new  form,  is  well  adapted  to  satisfy  man's 
needs. 

In  the  process  of  spinning,  weaving, 
knitting,  dyeing,  cutting  and  fitting,  build- 
ing, mining,  and  forging,  nothing  is  cre- 
ated; the  positions  of  particles  of  matter 
are  shifted,  and  this  is  all. 

23.  When  this  new  arrangement  of  mat- 
ter tends  to  satisfy  some  want,  a  commod- 
ity is  produced  by  labor;  and  this  com- 
modity therefore  belongs  to  that  class  of 
things  to  which  the  general  name  " wealth" 
has  been  given. 

24.  The  Character  of  the  People  by  Whom 
Existing  Wealth  has  been  Produced. — The 
people  by  whom  the  wealth  we  now  find  in 
existence  was  produced  must,  we  see,  have 
been  a  hard-working  people.  The  old,  the 
infirm,  and  young  children  are  incapable 
of  labor.  Their  means  of  subsistence  must 
be  provided  for  them  by  those  who  can  and 
do  labor.    The  smaller  the  number  of  those 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  21 

who  live  upon  the  labor  of  others,  the 
greater  will  be  the  amount  of  the  neces- 
saries and  comforts  of  life  produced  for 
the  enjoyment  of  all.  So  also  will  the 
means  for  such  enjoyment  increase  with 
the  ability  and  willingness  of  those  who 
do  labor. 

25.  This  ability  and  willingness  can  be 
acquired  by  the  young  by  earnest  attention 
to  their  school  duties,  and  by  cheerfully  as- 
sisting their  parents  in  household  or  other 
tasks  adapted  to  their  strength. 

26.  Industry. — To  those  who  labor  cheer- 
fully and  continuously  in  the  production 
of  wealth,  or  in  fitting  themselves  to  be- 
come producers,  the  term  "industrious" 
is  applied,  and  the  quality  they  possess 
is  termed  "  industry." 

27.  The  quality  of  industry  must  have 
belonged  in  a  high  degree  to  the  men  and 
women  of  the  past,  since  we  now  enjoy  so 
much  wealth  which  they  had  accumulated 
and  provided  for  our  use.  Children  who 
think  of  this  will  readily  learn  to  love  and 
practice  industry,  in  order  that,  when  they 
shall  be  grown  up  to  be  men  and  women 


22  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

and  take  part  in  the  business  of  produc- 
tion, they  may  cheerfully,  willingly,  and 
continuously  labor  to  replace  the  stores 
consumed  by  them  in  infancy  and  child- 
hood, to  provide  for  their  then  present  and 
future  wants,  as  well  as  to  bear  their  share 
of  the  burden  of  supporting  those  who 
shall  have  succeeded  to  their  places  in  the 
ranks  of  non- workers. 

28.  In  passing  in  review  the  manner  in 
which  are  produced  some  of  the  commod- 
ities in  common  use,  the  question  must 
have  suggested  itself  to  the  mind  of  the 
thoughtful  pupil,  What  were  men  living 
upon  while  digging  and  plowing,  sowing 
and  reaping,  rearing  cattle,  building,  spin- 
ning, baking,  and  the  like  ? 

29.  We  Live  on  the  Products  of  Past 
Labor. — The  wealth  which  man's  labor  is 
engaged  in  producing  cannot  be  employed 
to  satisfy  his  present  needs,  the  results 
of  that  labor  do  not  exist  in  the  present, 
but  are  expected  to  exist  at  some  future 
time.  Evidently,  then,  man  lives  on  the 
products  of  his  labor  in  the  past,  the  sav- 
ing of  which  for  future  consumption  was 
a  necessity  soon  forced  upon  his  notice. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  23 

30.  In  nothing  is  the  contrast  more  dis- 
tinctly marked  between  the  savage  and  the 
civilized  man  than  in  the  forethought  which 
renders  it  part  of  the  present  enjoyment  of 
the  latter  to  provide  for  the  future  wants  of 
himself  and  family.  Thus,  the  very  act  of 
abstaining  from  the  complete  gratification 
of  his  and  their  present  needs,  in  order  that 
their  future  wants  may  be  supplied,  forms 
a  part  of  the  happiness  of  the  civilized 
man;  while  nothing  could  cause  him  greater 
mental  suffering  than  to  be  compelled  to 
consume  all  his  present  store,  with  the 
prospect  of  being  unable  to  obtain  a  future 
supply. 

31.  The  savage,  on  the  contrary,  cannot 
be  induced  to  abstain  from  wasting  what 
he  cannot  immediately  enjoy,  however  ter- 
rible may  have  been  the  sufferings  of  him- 
self and  family  through  past  wastefulness. 

32.  Saving. — The  necessity  of  saving  will 
be,  perhaps,  more  vividly  realized  by  the 
young  by  noting  the  following  facts: 

33.  In  most  countries  there  is  but  one 
principal  harvest  in  the  year;  but  man's 
need  for  food  occurs  three  or  four  times 


24  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

every  day,  neither  Sundays  nor  holidays 
being  excepted.  How,  then,  can  he  make 
one  harvest  gratify  the  cravings  of  three 
times  three  hundred  and  sixty -five  appe- 
tites, but  by  saving?  But  further,  harvests 
sometimes  fail,  or  are  late  or  deficient,  and 
the  abundance  of  one  year  must  therefore 
be  stored  up  to  supply  the  failure,  late- 
ness, or  deficiency  of  the  next.  Savages 
are  incapable  of  looking  so  far  forward  into 
the  future,  and  hence  their  tribes  are  being 
continually  decimated  by  famine,  and  its 
sure  successors,  pestilence  and  disease. 

34.  It  is  impossible  fully  to  appreciate 
the  very  large  amount  of  saving  from  the 
products  of  past  labor  which  must  have 
been  practiced  by  those  who  have  lived 
before  us  in  order  that  we  might  procure 
merely  the  common  things  in  use  in  the 
abundance  in  which  we  have  them. 

35.  Among  other  things,  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  the  aqueducts  which  bring 
water  to  our  houses;  the  ships,  docks, 
piers,  canals,  railroads,  wagons,  and  steam- 
cars  employed  in  the  transportation  of 
commodities;   the  machinery  employed  in 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  25 

the  conversion  of  raw  products  into  arti- 
cles of  utility — could  never  have  had  exist- 
ence but  for  such  saving.  Their  very  cost 
measures,  and  is  measured  by,  the  quantity 
of  saving  from  the  products  of  labor  con- 
sumed in  their  construction. 

36.  Economy. — The  name  "economy"  is 
applied  to  the  quality  of  saving,  and  this 
quality  we  now  see  must  have  largely  pre- 
vailed among  parents,  in  order  that  the 
children  of  to-day  might  enjoy  the  large 
supply  of  comfort  provided  for  them. 

37.  High  among  the  industrial  virtues 
must  the  quality  of  economy  be  ranked, 
and  its  prevalence  must  be  classed  as  one 
of  the  most  important  conditions  of  human 
well-being. 

38.  The  habit  of  saving  once  acquired, 
its  practice  becomes  part  of  the  enjoyment 
of  the  present;  and  when  youth  shall  be 
generally  taught  to  perceive  its  importance, 
a  vast  increase  in  the  well-being  of  future 
generations  may  be  confidently  predicted. 

39.  The  industry  and  economy  we  have 
seen  practiced  in  the  past,  and  which  it  is 
desirable  should  to  a  yet  greater  degree  be 


26  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

practiced  in  the  future,  would  have  availed 
little  to  produce  an  abundance  of  wealth, 
if  man's  faculties  were  incapable  of  im- 
provement, or  if  the  ease  with  which  he 
performs  his  labor  and  the  character  of 
its  results  were  not  increased  and  improved 
by  each  repetition ;  or  if  he  were  unable  to 
store  up  and  record  his  observations  for 
future  use. 

When  children  begin  to  play  at  ball,  they 
can  neither  throw  the  ball  far,  nor  in  the 
direction  they  desire,  nor  catch  it  when  it 
is  thrown  to  them;  but  by  practice  they 
soon  become  able  to  throw  the  ball  a  long 
distance,  pitch  it  to  the  precise  place  to 
which  they  wish  it  to  go,  and  catch  it  when 
thrown  to  them;  they  acquire  skill  in  play- 
ing ball. 

40.  When  children  begin  to  learn  to  write, 
they  find  it  very  difficult  to  hold  a  pen  or 
pencil  in  the  proper  position,  and  still  more 
difficult  to  form  figures  and  letters;  but  by 
great  practice,  they  acquire  the  power  of 
holding  the  pen  or  pencil  properly,  and  of 
making  neat  and  correct  figures  and  letters; 
they  acquire  skill  in  writing. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  27 

Wlien  they  begin  to  learn  to  add  or  to 
subtract,  they  find  great  difficulty  in  add- 
ing one  and  one,  one  and  two,  two  and 
two,  two  and  three,  etc.,  but  by  frequent 
practice  they  get  to  be  able  to  add  rapidly 
and  correctly  hundreds  and  thousands;  still 
more  difficult  do  they  at  first  find  it  to  mul- 
tiply two  by  three  or  three  by  four,  but  by 
practice  they  become  able  to  tell  what  is 
seven  times  nine,  nine  times  thirteen,  or 
even  seventeen  times  nineteen,  almost  as 
rapidly  as  the  questions  can  be  asked;  and 
they  become  skilled  in  computing. 

When,  somewhat  older,  they  go  into  the 
workshop,  they  at  first  do  not  know  how 
to  handle  the  tools  of  the  trade  they  are 
about  to  learn,  and  spoil  and  waste  much 
material,  besides  often  spoiling  the  tools, 
and  sometimes  doing  themselves  injury; 
by  paying  attention  to  the  workman  who 
is  set  to  teach  them,  by  watching  the  way 
he  works  and  trying  to  imitate  him,  they 
soon  learn  how  to  use  their  tools,  to  work 
without  wasting  material  or  spoiling  their 
tools,  and  become  skillful  in  their  use;  they 
perform  their   work    with   ease,    and  the 


28  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

result  of  their  labor  is  an  addition  to  the 
value  and  usefulness  of  the  object  on  "which 
it  is  bestowed. 

The  faculty  of  performing  any  given  labor 
with  ease,  of  making  easily  an  addition  to 
the  value  or  utility  of  the  object  on  which 
the  labor  is  bestowed,  is  termed  "skill." 

41.  Knowledge. — To  have  or  possess,  stored 
up  in  the  mind  ready  for  use,  observations 
of  past  facts,  and  the  records  of  past  ex- 
perience, is  termed  "  knowledge." 

42.  Skill  and  knowledge  are  also  needed 
to  observe  and  record  facts,  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  those  facts  and  of  their  mutual 
relations  is  needed  to  discover  the  laws  of 
their  modes  of  action.  From  observations 
of  these  facts  and  modes  of  action,  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  rotation  of  crops,  the  nature, 
qualities,  and  application  of  manures,  the 
effects  of  steam  and  electricity,  were  dis- 
covered and  subjected  to  man's  purposes. 

43.  Skill  is  needed  to  manufacture  the 
tools  and  implements  in  daily,  even  those 
in  household  use,  as  well  as  the  more  com- 
plex machinery  employed  in  manufacturing 
them. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  29 

44.  The  tools  once  produced,  skill  is  re- 
quired in  their  use.  The  bow  and  arrow, 
and  the  rifle,  are  equally  useless  in  the 
hands  of  a  man  who  has  no  skill  to  use 
them.  The  civilized  man  armed  with  a 
rifle,  which  he  did  not  know  how  to  use, 
would  be  no  match  for  the  savage  armed 
with  bow  and  arrow,  who  had  practiced 
shooting  at  a  mark. 

45.  Industry ,  economy,  knowledge,  and  skill 
are  now  seen  to  be  essential  to  the  produc- 
tion of  any  considerable  quantity  of  the 
necessaries  and  comforts  of  life.  Their 
prevalence  is  a  condition  of  human  well- 
being.  On  the  degree  in  which  they  prevail 
will,  in  a  great  measure,  depend  the  happi- 
ness of  every  community.  The  progress 
and  future  happiness  of  every  people  must 
depend  on  the  care  with  which  these  quali- 
ties are  sought  to  be  imparted  to  the  young. 
With  what  earnestness,  then,  should  not  the 
boys  and  girls,  for  whose  improvement  in 
these  qualities  efforts  are  being  made  by 
their  parents  and  teachers,  strive  to  attain 
knowledge,  and  to  acquire  habits  of  in- 
dustry, economy,  and  skill! 


30  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 


REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 

18> 

Are  all  the  necessaries  of  life  wealth?  If  not,  name 
those  which  are  not. 

19-21. 

Are  earth,  water,  or  air  ever  wealth  ?  If  they  are,  state 
when  and  where. 

22. 

What  does  labor  create  ?  What  does  labor  do  ?  Illus- 
trate your  answer. 

23. 
What  is  a  commodity? 

24. 
What  kind  of  people  produced  tne  wealth  we  find  now 
in  existence  ?    Do  all  persons  labor  ?    What  relation  exists 
between  the  proportion  of  the  non-workers  to  the  workers, 
and  the  amount  of  wealth  produced? 

25. 

How  may  the  young  become  able  and  willing  to  labor  ? 

26-27. 

What  name  is  given  to  those  who  labor  cheerfully  and 
continuously?  Define  industry.  Was  industry  a  quality 
of  those  who  have  lived  before  us?  Prove  your  answer. 
Should  children  love  industry,  and  why? 

28-29. 

What  do  we  live  upon  while  tilling  the  ground  and 
sowing  the  seed  ?  What  did  the  men  who  produced  what 
we  are  now  consuming  live  upon  while  laboring  to  pro- 
duce? 


Of  thb 
PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  ^2l 

30-31. 

Explain  the  chief  distinction  between  the  savage  and 
civilized  man. 

33-35. 

How  many  principal  harvests  are  there  in  a  year 
in  most  countries?  How  many  appetites  have  you  each 
day?  How  many  in  the  year?  How  shall  one  harvest  be 
made  to  satisfy  3x365,  or  1,095,  appetites?  Are  harvests 
always  abundant?.  How  can  the  abundance  of  one  harvest 
be  made  to  supply  the  scarcity  of  another?  If  the  prin- 
cipal food  of  a  people  cannot  be  saved  from  one  year  to 
another,  could  any  provision  be  made  against  scarcity,  and 
how?  What  kind  of  people  are  they  likely  to  be  who  rely 
mainly  on  one  perishable  article  for  food?  Would  they 
be  likely  to  make  such  provision  as  is  necessary?  and  if  not, 
why  not?  Contrast  corn,  wheat,  rye,  or  rice,  with  potatoes, 
and  state  what  kind  of  people  would  be  likely  to  use  corn, 
wheat,  rye,  or  rice,  as  their  staple  article  of  food,  and  what 
kind  of  people  would  rely  upon  potatoes,  and  give  your 
reasons  in  each  case.  What  do  aqueducts,  ships,  docks, 
piers,  canals,  railroads,  etc.,  teach  us  with  regard  to  saving 
in  the  past ;  and  how  does  their  cost  measure  the  amount 
of  savings  from  products  of  past  labor  consumed  in  their 
construction? 

36-38. 

What  name  is  given  to  the  quality  of  saving?  Is  saving 
necessary  in  the  future,  and  why?  Does  saving  cause  pres- 
ent enjoyment,  and  how  ? 

39-44. 

What  is  skill?  How  is  skill  to  be  acquired?  How  do 
children  acquire  skill  in  ball-playing?  In  reading,  writing, 
and  computing?  In  the  use  of  tools?  Do  they  waste 
materials  and  spoil  tools  when  they  first  go  into  the  work- 


32  PRIMER  OF  MORALS, 

shop?  Do  they  always  do  so?  and  if  not,  why  not?  What 
is  knowledge?  Are  skill  and  knowledge  desirable,  and 
why? 

45. 
Name  and  define  afresh  the  four  conditions  of  human 
well-being  examined  in  this  chapter. 

Note. — Although  many  of  the  answers  to  questions 
numbered  33  to  35  are  not  directly  furnished  in  the  text, 
the  deductions  are  so  easy  that  the  teacher  will  find  no 
difficulty  in  leading  his  class  to  find  out  for  themselves  the 
truth  on  the  matters  referred  to  by  the  Socratic  process  of 
leading  the  pupil  by  questions  from  one  truth  to  another 
less  obvious  than  the  first.  He  will  at  the  same  time  be 
training  his  pupils  to  think,  and  to  think  logically.  Many 
more  questions  on  those  sections  and  on  sections  36  to  45 
will  suggest  themselves  to  the  earnest  teacher. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  33 


CHAPTER  III. 

Division  of  Labor— Increased  Efficiency  Resulting 
from  Co-operation — Household  Labors — Training 
of  the  Young — Special  Fitness  of  Women  for  Cer- 
tain Labors. 

46.  Division  of  Labor.  —  In  the  early 
stages  of  society,  whatever  object  is  desired 
by  any  of  its  members  is  produced  directly 
by  himself;  that  is  to  say  (violence  and 
fraud  excepted),  by  the  direction  of  his  own 
labor  to  the  immediate  production  of  the 
object  desired.  But  the -time  of  the  work- 
man is  greatly  taken  up  and  his  attention 
distracted  by  going  from  one  kind  of  labor 
to  another,  and  little  skill  can  under  such 
conditions  be  acquired  in  any.  It  soon 
came  to  be  perceived  that  by  each  laborer 
applying  himself  to  one  class  of  production 
exclusively,  the  total  product  would  be  very 
much  increased;  and  each  laborer  can  so 
apply  himself  without  anxiety  or  hesitation, 

3 


34  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

when,  seeing  others  do  likewise,  lie  knows 
he  can  readily  procure  the  other  things  he 
needs  by  exchanging  for  them  the  direct 
products  of  his  own  labor. 

The  canoe  of  the  savage,  built  by  the  un- 
assisted labor  of  himself  and  family,  has 
to  be  made  in  intervals  between  hunting 
and  fishing;  but  when  society  has  so  far 
advanced  that  one  portion  of  its  members 
will  find  sufficient  food  for  the  rest,  where- 
by these  others  are  enabled  to  devote  them- 
selves exclusively  to  the  building  of  ships, 
the  rude  canoe  becomes  improved  into  the 
sailing  vessel  with  masts  and  sails,  and  the 
sailing  vessel  in  her  turn  yields  to  that  tri- 
umph of  human  skill  and  ingenuity,  the 
steamship,  or  ship  propelled  by  steam. 
What  wonderful  skill  is  expended  in  the 
construction  of  an  ocean  steamer!  How 
marvelously  the  ship-builder  co-operates 
with  the  farmer  in  the  production  of  grain \ 
with  the  tailor  in  the  production  of  clothes, 
and  with  the  potter  and  cutler  in  the  pro- 
duction of  their  wares ! 

The  separation  of  the  occupations  of  men, 
so  that  each  laborer  applies  himself  exclu- 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  35 

sively  to  one  kind  of  labor,  is  termed 
"division  of  labor." 

47.  Besulting  Increase  in  Efficiency  of 
Labor. — But  for  it,  the  acquirement  of  the 
knowledge  and  skill  needed  for  the  inven- 
tion and  construction  of  the  steam-engine, 
of  telegraphs,  nay,  even  of  comfortable 
dwellings  or  clothes,  would  have  been 
impossible. 

The  addition  made,  by  the  adoption  of 
the  division  of  labor  to  the  productiveness 
of  man's  labor,  is  doubtless  greatest  in  those 
industrial  occupations  which  have  for  their 
object  to  supply  the  more  pressing  needs 
of  the  community;  but  its  advantages  can 
perhaps  be  more  vividly  realized  by  observ- 
ing the  process  of  the  manufacture  of  some 
more  trifling  kind,  such  as  the  illustration 
given  by  Adam  Smith,  in  his  "Wealth  of 
Nations." 

"A  workman,"  says  Adam  Smith,  "not 
educated  to  the  trade  [pin-making]  will 
with  difficulty  make  a  dozen  pins  a  day; 
but  not  only  is  pin-making  a  special  busi- 
ness, it  is  also  divided  into  branches,  each 
of  which  is  a  trade  by  itself.      One  man 


36  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

draws  the  wire,  a  second  straightens  it,  a 
third  cuts,  and  a  fourth  points  it;  a  fifth 
grinds  the  tops  to  receive  the  head,  while 
the  making  of  the  head  is  divided  into 
several  trades;  another  workman  puts  on 
the  head;  and  to  whiten  the  pins,  and 
even  to  place  or  stick  them  on  papers,  is 
each  a  separate  trade." 

The  manufactory  examined  by  Adam 
Smith  is  described  by  him  as  having  been 
very  poor,  employing  but  ten  hands,  and 
furnished  with  indifferent  machinery,  and 
yet  they  could  turn  out  twelve  pounds  of 
pins  per  day.  Four  thousand  medium- 
sized  pins  go  to  the  pound,  making  forty- 
eight  thousand  pins  as  the  day's  work  of 
ten  men,  whose  united  product,  unaided  by 
division  of  labor  and  co-operation,  would 
not  exceed  one  hundred  and  twenty  pins 
a  day! 

By  the  improved  machinery  of  the  pres- 
ent day — results  of  the  still  greater  division 
of  labor  and  more  intimate  and  trustwor- 
thy co-operation  now  in  use — the  same 
number  of  men  can  now  turn  out  over  one 
million  of  pins  a  day. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  37 

48.  In  other  arts  and  manufactures  the 
results  of  the  division  of  labor  are  not  less 
striking. 

Pin-makers,  spinners,  weavers,  tailors, 
shoe-makers,  architects,  lawyers,  builders 
and  engineers,  printers  and  book-binders, 
and  farmers,  all  co-operate  to  provide  whole- 
some and  palatable  food,  comfortable  cloth- 
ing, and  abundant  fuel  and  shelter  for  all. 

Each  co-operates  with  every  other  in- 
dustrial worker;  and  the  lessons  of  econ- 
omy taught  in  the  last  chapter  receive 
additional  enforcement  from  the  observa- 
tion of  the  fact  that  all  these  laborers  are 
living,  while  they  labor,  on  the  products  of 
past  labor.  How  enormous,  then,  must 
have  been  the  amount  of  saving  which 
has  been  going  on  in  the  past,  and  which 
is  essential  in  the  present  and  for  the 
future ! 

There  is  one  class  of  labor  to  which  it  is 
desirable  to  devote  some  attention,  because 
its  importance  and  position  in  the  economy 
of  industrial  life  are  frequently  overlooked. 

49.  Household  Labors. — The  household 
labors,  generally  performed  by  women,  are 


3S  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

no  whit  less  honorable,  essential,  or  pro- 
ductive than  any  labor  performed  by  men. 
If  these  labors  were  not  performed  for 
the  men,  they  would  have  to  do  them  for 
themselves,  and,  from  want  of  experience, 
they  would  neither  be  done  so  well  nor  so 
quickly  as  they  are  now. 

The  labors  too,  now  performed  by  men 
would  be  constantly  interrupted,  and  con- 
sequently, be  less  skillfully  performed  and 
their  labor  be  less  productive  than  at 
present. 

Hence  domestic  workers,  whether  men 
or  women,  co-operate  in  the  building  of 
bridges,  railroads,  ships,  and  in  short,  in 
the  production  of  all  commodities  what- 
ever. 

50.  Nature  has  specially  pointed  out  the 
training  of  the  young  as  a  kind  of  labor 
which  can  be  best  performed  by  women; 
their  special  fitness  for  this  labor,  requir- 
ing as  it  does  their  constant  presence  in 
the  home,  has  without  doubt  been  the 
cause  that,  even  in  civilized  communities, 
the  performance  of  the  chief  portion  of 
domestic  labor  continues  to  fall  to  their  lot. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  39 

51.  In  our  country  this  special  fitness  of 
women  to  train  the  young  has  received  a 
further  development. 

52.  The  high  and  noble  vocation  of  the 
teaeher  is  among  us  chiefly  filled  by  women. 
They  carry  into  the  school  the  qualities 
and  faculties  which  especially  adapt  that 
sex  for  the  training  of  the  young;  and  they 
are  undoubtedly  better  able  to  understand 
the  wants  and  feelings  of  children  than  men, 
who  are  less  sympathetic  in  their  natures. 

REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 

46. 

What  is  division  of  labor?  How  does  the  division  of 
labor  lead  to  the  substitution  of  the  sailing  vessel  for  the 
canoe,  of  the  steam-vessel  for  one  propelled  by  the  wind, 
and  to  other  improvements  ?  How  do  the  ship-builder  and 
sailor  co-operate  with  the  farmer  of  Kansas  in  the  produc- 
tion of  bread  in  London? 

47. 

Show  how  the  division  of  labor  affects  its  efficiency. 
Give  Adam  Smith's  illustration  of  the  advantages  of  the 
division  of  labor. 

48. 

Does  the  carpenter  co-operate  with  the  farmer  to  pro- 
duce grain,  and  howT  Does  the  tailor  co-operate  with  the 
potter  to  produce  earthenware,  and  how?    Give  various 


40  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

instances  of  the  co-operation  of  one  kind  of  workman  with 
another. 

49. 
Do  those  engaged  in  household  labors  co-operate  to  pro- 
duce grain,  ships,  bridges,  railroads,  etc.,  and  how? 

50. 

What  has  tended  to  throw  household  labors  chiefly  into 
the  hands  of  women  in  this  country  ? 

51. 

For  what  other  vocation  do  women  seem  to  be  specially 
adapted,  and  whyf 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  41 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Interchange— Necessity  op   Considering   and    Satis- 
fying the  Wants  op  Others. 

53.  Interchange. — The  adoption  of  the 
divison  of  labor  throws  a  new  duty  on  the 
laborer.  He  has  no  longer  to  consider 
what  he  himself  needs  in  order  to  supply 
his  wants,  but  he  must  ascertain  what 
things  are  most  desired  by  other  producers. 

54.  Having  ascertained  this,  he  knows 
that  other  producers  will  be  as  anxious  to 
exchange  their  products  for  his  as  he  will 
be  to  acquire  theirs,  and  he  can  devote  his 
whole  skill  and  energy  to  the  production 
of  his  one  commodity. 

55.  The  quantity  of  the  commodities  he 
needs,  which  he  will  be  able  to  procure 
(skill,  industry,  and  economy  being  sup- 
posed equal),  will  be  proportioned  to  the 
judgment  he  has  exercised  in  supplying 
the  wants  of  others. 


42  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

56.  Harmony  of  Industries, — The  beauti- 
ful harmony  of  industries  which  here  comes 
into  view  deserves  our  especial  considera- 
tion. 

A  man's  own  happiness  is  his  only  mo- 
tive to  action,  that  is  to  say,  the  gratifica- 
tion of  some  one  or  more  of  his  faculties 
is  what  induces  him  to  act.  Even  when 
moved  to  action  by  sympathy  for  others, 
as,  for  instance,  for  members  of  his  own 
family,  it  is  still  to  gratify  his  own  sym- 
pathetic organs  or  faculties  that  he  acts, 
as  these  organs  would  be  pained  did  he 
not  do  so.  He  balances  (unconsciously 
in  most  cases)  the  pain  of  the  labor  he 
gives  himself  to  do  good  to  those  dear  to 
him,  against  the  pain  he  would  suffer  if  he 
failed  to  do  so,  and  finding  the  latter  would 
be  greater  than  the  former,  gratifies  him- 
self by  performing  the  act  which  is  to 
make  another  happy.  This  is  a  fact,  nay, 
a  truism,  which  folly  and  ignorance  may 
deplore,  but  which  knowledge  observes  to 
be  as  much  a  part  of  man's  nature,  and 
as  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the 
species,  as  are  his  appetites.    It  is  true 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  43 

that  the  account  thus  stated  by  each  man 
in  his  own  mind  is  stated  unconsciously, 
or,  as  it  is  termed,  automatically,  and  from 
this  it  has  been  often  overlooked,  and 
sometimes  denied,  by  persons  of  little 
thought. 

57.  But  if  man  were  not  guided  by  the 
desire  for  his  own  happiness  to  gratify  his 
own  desires,  if  each  man's  actions  were 
dictated  by  what  he  conceived  to  be  the 
wants  of  another,  instead  of  his  eating 
when  hungry  and  laboring  to  avoid  starva- 
tion, endeavoring  to  avoid  being  frozen  by 
cold  or  burned  by  fire,  he  would  perish 
for  want  of  food,  or  from  cold  or  fire, 
through  his  disregard  of  his  own  wants, 
while  awaiting  the  provision  or  salvation 
to  be  provided  him  by  another,  and  the 
entire  human  race  would  soon  disappear 
from  the  earth. 

58.  The  desire  we  have  to  procure  for 
ourselves  and  those  dear  to  us  as  large  a 
supply  as  possible  of  the  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life  can  be  gratified  only  by 
supplying  the  wants  of  others,  thus  blend- 
ing in  a  common  bond  the  interests  of  all, 


44  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

and  making  the  welfare  of  each  industrial 
worker  identical  with  that  of  the  commu- 
nity in  which  he  labors. 

REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 

53. 

What  new  duty  is  thrown  upon  the  laborer  by  division 
of  labor? 

55. 

On  what  will  depend  the  quantity  of  commodities  he 
will  be  able  to  procure  ? 

56-8. 

Does  this  bring  into  view  any  and  what  harmony  of 
industries  ?  Explain  the  consequences  which  would  follow 
if  man  were  so  constituted  as  to  seek  the  happiness  of 
others  without  regard  to  his  own.  How  is  care  for  him- 
self made  useful  to  others? 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  45 


CHAPTER  V. 

Protection  to  Life  and  Property — Honesty — Small 
Efficiency  of  Governments — Conscience  the  Most 
Efficient  Police — Effects  of  Dishonesty — Demor- 
alizing Influence  of  Successful  Dishonesty. 

59.  Protection. — We  have  seen  that  the 
means  of  subsistence  and  of  enjoyment 
can  only  be  procured  by  labor,  and  that 
industry,  knowledge,  skill,  and  economy 
are  essential  to  their  production  and  pres- 
ervation. But  man  devotes  himself  to 
labor  to  satisfy  his  needs,  and  having  pro- 
duced, he  must  be  permitted  to  enjoy; 
otherwise  he  would  soon  grow  tired  of  his 
useless  toil,  and,  production  ceasing,  the 
world  would  be  filled  with  misery.  Famine 
and  pestilence  would  soon  sweep  from  the 
earth  a  race  which  failed  to  insure  to  in- 
dustry the  property  in  that  which  it  had 
acquired  by  labor. 


46  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

60.  To  secure  to  the  laborer  the  enjoy- 
ment of  what  he  has  produced  by  his  labor 
is,  then,  one  of  the  earliest  efforts  of  society 
emerging  from  barbarism.  Protection  to 
property  must  he  secured,  or  the  induce- 
ment to  labor  is  diminished,  and  that  to 
save  and  husband  is  destroyed.  But  be- 
yond perceiving  the  necessity  of  establish- 
ing security  for  property,  man  has  yet 
made  little  progress ;  the  most  civilized 
societies  are  yet  groping  in  doubt  and 
uncertainty  as  to  the  means  best  adapted 
for  the  attainment  of  this  end. 

61.  Honesty. — "Were  all  men  so  organized, 
and  so  taught  and  trained  in  youth,  that  to 
seek  to  obtain  possession  of  the  products 
of  another's  labor  save  in  exchange  for  that 
of  their  own  should  be  revolting  to  their  own 
minds,  the  difficulty  would  cease  to  exist. 

62.  Unhappily,  some  there  are  who,  from 
defective  training  or  organization,  seek 
to  obtain  the  products  of  labor  by  other 
means  than  working  and  saving,  viz.,  by 
violence  or  fraud ;  and  from  their  efforts  it 
is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  the  workers 
should  be  protected. 


PMMntt  OF  MORALS.  47 

With  this  object  in  view,  governments 
have  been  established,  police  and  courts  of 
justice  have  been  organized,  and  for  the 
support  of  those  serving  in  these  offices, 
taxes  are  levied  and  collected. 

63.  But  taxes  can  be  gotten  only  from 
the  earnings  of  the  industrious  and  saving, 
and  even  if  the  functions  of  police  and 
magistrates  were  performed  to  perfection? 
the  reward  and  consequent  inducement  to 
the  industrious  and  saving  to  labor  and  to 
save  must  be  diminished  by  the  amount 
taken  from  them  in  taxes  to  pay  the  labors 
of  magistrates  and  police. 

64.  Unhappily,  we  are  here  met  by  a  still 
graver  difficulty;  not  only  are  the  func- 
tions ascribed  to  police  and  magistrates  not 
performed  to  perfection,  but  in  the  most 
advanced  societies  yet  established,  the  sys- 
tem of  laws  and  of  justice  are  so  imperfect 
that  it  is  a  grave  question  whether  the 
benefits  secured  by  magistrates  and  police 
are  adequate  to  the  cost  of  maintainirg 
them. 

65.  Conscience  the  Most  Effective  Police. — 
Whatever  means  may,  as  civilization  pro- 


48  PRIMER  OF  MORALS 

gresses,  be  finally  accepted  as  best  adapted 
to  afford  security  for  property,  one  thing 
at  least  is  clear :  the  larger  the  number  of 
those  who  adopt  violence  or  fraud  as  a 
means  to  procure  wealth,  the  larger  needs 
to  be  the  force  employed  to  resist  them, 
and  the  greater  the  risk  of  finding  the  pro- 
tective force  invaded  by  the  presence,  in 
its  own  bosom,  of  the  violent  or  fraudu- 
lent. No  police  can  he  so  efficient  as  that 
which  the  well-trained  citizen  carries  always 
with  him — his  own  conscience. 

Hence  the  only  means  which  can  be  re- 
lied on  as  certain  to  add  to  the  security  of 
property  are  individual  character  and  self- 
control,  to  be  secured  only  by  good  teach- 
ing and  training  in  youth. 

The  quality  of  holding  in  respect  the 
property  of  others,  of  adhering  constantly 
to  truth,  and  of  faithfully  performing  every 
trust  confided  to  us,  is  termed  "  honesty." 

66.  Although  the  necessity  for  honesty 
has  been  evolved  in  our  investigation,  pos- 
teriorly in  scientific  order  to  industry,  skill, 
and  economy,  none  of  the  last-named  quali- 
ties can  flourish  in  the  absence  of  respect 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  49 

for  property;  while  as  the  natural  instinct 
of  man  is  to  take  what  he  desires,  until  he 
learns  the  evil  consequences  of  so  doing, 
the  exercise  of  this  quality  of  honesty 
needs  to  be  earliest  taught.  It  needs  train- 
ing and  experience  for  youth  to  learn  the 
many  forms  under  which  honesty  should 
be  exercised,  until  it  grows  into  a  habit  of 
mind,  a  part  of  his  nature,  a  permanent 
quality  of  character. 

The  advantages  derivable  from  the  di- 
vision of  labor  would  be  wholly  lost  to  us 
in  the  absence  of  trustworthiness  and  truth- 
fulness. Some  amount  of  these  qualities  is 
absolutely  indispensable  for  the  adoption 
of  the  division  of  labor  at  all;  its  full  bene- 
fits can  never  be  realized  while  falsehood, 
or  any  species  of  fraud  or  untrustworthi- 
ness,  prevails  among  us. 

67.  It  is  not  alone  by  diminishing  the 
inducement  to  labor  and  economy  that 
society  is  injured  by  the  practices  of  the 
dishonest.  In  all  civilized  countries,  while 
the  industrious  and  saving  are  consuming, 
they  are,  as  we  have  seen,  replacing,  not 
only  what  they  consume,  but  what  is  con- 

4 


50  PRIMER  OF  MORALS 

sumed  by  the  sick,  the  maimed,  the  dis- 
honest, and  the  incapable;  and,  in  addition, 
are  increasing  the  store  of  wealth  of  the 
community  year  by  year. 

The  dishonest,  the  rogues,  the  cheats  and 
thieves  who  plague  society,  also  consume, 
and  that  without  replacing  what  they  con- 
sume; they  also  frequently  destroy  as 
much  as  they  enjoy. 

68.  If  society  submitted  without  resist- 
ance to  the  depredations  of  the  dishonest, 
it  would  fall  back  into  misery  and  bar- 
barism, so  that  there  would  be  little  left 
for  the  thieves  to  steal;  it  is  therefore  best, 
even  for  the  subsistence  of  the  thief  him- 
self, that  his  efforts  should  be  resisted,  and 
himself  restrained  from  his  evil  ways. 

69.  But  while  endeavoring  to  secure  the 
rights  of  property,  we  must  be  careful  not 
to  exaggerate  the  capabilities  of  the  best  of 
governments.  Government  can  strive  to 
provide  security  for  wealth,  but  it  cannot 
create  it. 

70.  Wealth  is  the  product  of  industry, 
skill,  knowledge,  and  economy.  In  so  far 
as  governments  succeed   in  affording  se- 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  51 

curity  for  life,  liberty,  and  property,  in  so 
far  it  promotes  these  virtues ;  but  the  fun- 
damental qualities  of  civilized  man  can  be 
secured  only  by  good  teaching  and  training 
in  youth,  the  most  important  part  whereof 
is  the  home  influence  of  the  parents.  If, 
then,  the  parents  possess  these  virtues,  we 
may  hope  to  see  them  reproduced  in  a  yet 
greater  degree  in  their  children ;  and  as  the 
seeds  of  these  qualities  must  be  sown  in 
infancy,  it  is  in  infancy  we  must  begin  the 
training  to  make  good  parents. 

71.  Demoralizing  Influence  on  the  Wit- 
nesses of  Dishonest  Examples. — Besides  the 
direct  discouragement  to  industry  occa- 
sioned by  dishonesty,  it  has  yet  another 
influence  which,  though  indirect,  is  far 
more  pernicious  than  its  direct  influence. 
This  indirect  influence  consists  in  the  de- 
moralization which  it  occasions  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  perceive  crime  enjoying  that 
success  which  should  only  be  the  reward 
of  industry,  skill,  and  trustworthiness. 

72.  Let  us  carefully  guard  ourselves 
against  yielding  approval  or  respect  in 
any  form  to  wrong-doing,  no  matter  how 


52  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

successful  or  powerful  it  may  be,  but  let 
it  receive  at  all  times  our  unqualified  scorn, 
and  a  hatred  proportioned  to  its  success. 

This  hatred  which  we  should  entertain 
towards  successful  wrong-doing  is  not  to 
be  mistaken  for  or  confounded  with  hatred 
of  the  wrong-doer.  Hatred  should  never 
be  felt  against  any  person.  It  is  our  duty 
to  oppose  the  wrong-doer  with  all  our 
strength,  but  we  should  do  so  without 
hatred  of  the  man;  and  so  soon  as  the 
wrong-doer  is  deprived  of  the  power  of 
doing  wrong,  we  should  pity  him,  and  seek 
to  put  him  on  the  road  to  do  right  in  the 
future. 

REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 

59. 

Why  does  man  labor?    What  would  be  the  result  of 
depriving  him  of  what  he  had  labored  to  produce? 
61. 
How  may  protection  to  property  be  certainly  and  per- 
fectly secured? 

62. 

Why  are  taxes  raised? 

63. 

Out  of  what  are  taxes  paid?  What  effect  has  the  paying 
of  taxes  on  the  inducement  to  labor  and  save  ? 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  53 

64. 

What  further  difficulty  exists  in  the  way  of  affording 
protection  to  property  ? 

65. 

What  is  the  most  efficient  police  ?  Are  there  any  means 
which  can  be  relied  on  as  certain  to  add  to  the  security  of 
property  ?    And  if  so,  what  are  they  ?    Define  honesty. 

66. 

Contrast  the  order  of  the  scientific  evolution  of  honesty 
as  a  condition  of  human  well-being,  with  its  proper  place 
in  teaching  and  training,  and  give  reasons  for  the  place  you 
assign  to  it. 

67-8. 

How  i3  society  further  injured  by  dishonesty?  What 
would  be  the  consequences  of  allowing  thieves  to  steal? 

69. 

What  is  the  limit  to  the  power  of  the  best  of  governments 
in  regard  to  wealth  ? 

70. 
When  should  people  begin  to  be  fitted  to  become  good 
parents  ? 

71. 
Name  some  indirect  consequences  to  society  from   dis- 
honesty. 

Note. — The  teacher  should  not  quit  this  chapter  with- 
out giving  his  pupils  numerous  illustrations  both  of  honesty 
and  dishonesty.  The  importance  of  truthfulness,  the  hap- 
piness existing  in  a  community  in  which  it  prevails,  the 
discomfort  which  attends  its  violation  both  in  the  case  of 
individuals  and  of  society,  using  illustrations  to  bring  home 


54  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

to  the  conscience  of  every  child  the  nature  of  true  honor 
contrasted  with  its  sham,  should  be  minutely  dwelt  upon 
and  profusely  illustrated.  The  care  taken  of  the  property 
of  others,  both  public  and  private,  as,  for  instance,  of  the 
school  furniture,  etc.,  will  gauge  pretty  accurately  the  moral 
status  of  the  scholars.  The  demoralization  produced  by 
examples  of  dishonesty,  especially  when  successful,  should 
also  be  pointed  out.  The  consequences  produced  by  national 
dishonesty  in  the  transfer  of  capital  from  the  country  where 
the  dishonesty  prevails,  or  the  hindering  its  flow  to  such  a 
country  from  others,  should  only  be  lightly  touched  upon 
with  very  young  pupils,  but  should  be  dwelt  upon  with  older 
students.  In  the  lessons  upon  this  chapter  efforts  should  be 
made  to  correct  the  prevailing  tendency  to  the  worship  of 
success,  and  illustrations  of  its  baneful  effects  should  be 
drawn  from  contemporary  history.  Napoleon  III.  of  France, 
and  William  M.  Tweed  of  New  York,  with  their  respective 
confederates  in  crime,  and  the  subserviency  to  them  of  so  many 
men  of  their  times,  will  furnish  apt  illustrations.  The 
foundation  may  also  be  laid  for  future  correct  judgment  as 
to  the  proper  objects  of  penal  law  and  of  punishment,  into 
which  revenge  should  never  be  allowed  to  enter  in  the  least 
degree. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  55 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Young  not  Possessed  of  Wealth— Their  Wants 
Supplied— Sale  and  Purchase  of  Labor — Sellers 
of  Labor,  and  not  the  Wealth  Possessors,  havf 
the  Enjoyment  of  the  Portion  of  the  Latter's 
Wealth  Employed  in  Production — Wages — Capi- 
tal— Interest  —  Ayerage  Wages  Determined  b? 
Productiyeness— Individual  Wages;  how  Deter- 
mined. 

73.  As  a  rule,  the  young  are  not  pos- 
sessed of  wealth;  yet  their  wants  are  regu- 
larly supplied.  Some  parents,  it  is  true, 
owing  in  most  cases  to  defective  teaching 
and  training  in  their  youth,  are  not  so 
able  or  willing  as  others  to  supply  their 
children's  needs.  By  giving  the  young 
such  education  as  shall  render  them  self- 
supporting,  and  shall  hinder  them  from 
undertaking  the  parental  duties  until  they 
have  made  provision  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  family,  the  number  of  incapable  or 


56  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

unwilling  parents  will  be  diminished  in  the 
future.  Children  whose  misfortune  it  is  to 
be  neglected  by  their  parents  generally 
suffer  through  life  the  consequences  of 
such  neglect,  though  their  sufferings  are 
often  mitigated  in  childhood  by  the  charity 
of  society  or  of  individuals. 

74.  But  though  the  wealth  possessors 
may  be  willing  to  part  with  a  portion  of 
their  wealth  for  the  relief  of  destitute  chil- 
dren, as  also  of  incapable  or  disabled  adults, 
they  are  not  willing  to  give  of  their  wealth 
to  adults  who  are  neither  incapable  nor 
disabled,  except  in  return  for  some  ser- 
vices rendered  or  to  be  rendered  by  the 
latter. 

75.  Sale  and  Purchase  of  Labor. — Hap- 
pily, a  means  exists  by  which  they  who 
have  no  wealth  saved  up  for  their  imme- 
diate wants  can  induce  the  wealth  pos- 
sessors to  part  cheerfully  with  theirs.  The 
former  can  sell  their  labor  to  the  latter; 
L  e.j  give  the  wealth  possessors  the  right  to 
the  future  product  of  their  present  labor, 
in  exchange  for  the  present  wealth  of  which 
they  stand  in  need.     This  can  be  done  be- 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  57 

cause  most  of  the  wealth  possessors  are 
anxious  to  increase  their  wealth. 

76.  How  the  Wealtliless  have  the  Enjoy- 
ment of  the  Wealth  of  its  Possessors. — The 
wealth  possessors  might  choose  to  retain 
their  wealth  for  their  own  consumption. 
In  parting  with  it  to  laborers,  they  allow 
the  latter  to  consume  it  in  their  stead. 

The  laborers,  then,  and  not  the  wealth 
possessors,  have  the  enjoyment  of  the  wealth 
the  latter  employ  in  the  purchase  of  labor, 
and  the  wealth  possessors  cheerfully  part 
with  their  wealth  in  the  hope  that  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  labor  they  purchase  will  replace 
the  wealth  they  have  bestowed  upon  the 
laborer,  with  an  increase  thereto. 

77.  Whatever  be  the  form  of  wealth  which 
it  is  intended  shall  be  produced,  land  is 
necessary  for  its  production,  and  where,  as 
is  the  case  among  most  people,  their  laws 
permit  individuals  to  appropriate  the  land, 
the  individuals  so  favored  can  generally 
exact  tribute  of  a  portion  of  the  product 
of  labor  in  payment  for  permission  to  use 
the  land  appropriated.  The  same  is  true  of 
all  natural  agents  by  whose  aid  wealth  can 


58  PRIMER  OF  MORAL*. 

be  produced  which  the  law  permits  to  be 
appropriated  by  individuals,  where  the  sup- 
ply of  such  agent  is  limited  in  quanity. 

78.  The  products  of  labor  can  be  largely 
increased  by  the  use  of  tools,  machines, 
engines,  buildings,  roads,  and  other  prod- 
ucts of  past  labor  which  have  been  saved 
and  are  applied  to  that  purpose.  Should 
the  owner  of  these  things  receive  any  share 
of  the  produce  as  a  reward  for  the  use 
thereof?  or  should  there  be  restored  to  him 
only  the  same  quantity? 

If  the  owner  of  those  articles,  instead  of 
employing  them  to  aid  labor  in  production, 
had  exchanged  them  for  cattle  at  the  end 
of  any  given  time  (say  one  year),  he  would, 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  have  had 
his  original  stock  of  cattle,  plus  an  increase. 
If  he  had  exchanged  them  for  seed  and 
sustenance  for  himself  while  engaged  in 
tilling  the  ground,  he  would,  in  most  cases, 
have  had  returned  to  him  the  same  quantity 
of  seed  and  sustenance,  plus  an  increase; 
so,  as  the  produce  of  labor  is  increased  by 
the  use  of  his  tools,  machines,  etc.,  he  is 
entitled  to  have  his  tools  and  machines 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  59 

returned  intact,  plus  a  part  of  the  increased 
return  obtained  through  their  use. 

We  thus  see  that  the  total  product  of 
labor  is  divided  into  four  portions,  whereof 
one  part  goes  to  the  laborer,  one  part  to 
the  owner  of  aids  to  industry  or  of  wealth 
employed  in  production,  one  part  to  him  to 
whom  the  law  has  given  the  right  to  appro- 
priate the  land  or  other  natural  agent  of 
production,  and  one  part  to  the  govern- 
ment under  the  name  of  "  taxes." 

79.  To  enable  the  government  to  afford, 
or  at  least  to  attempt  to  afford,  that  secu- 
rity and  protection  which  we  have  seen  to 
be  desirable  for  the  well-being  and  progress 
of  society,  a  portion  of  the  product  of  labor 
must  be  taken  for  the  support  of  the  numer- 
ous persons  it  employs  for  that  purpose, 
and  for  the  purchase  or  manufacture  of 
machinery,  ships,  arms,  and  implements  of 
war;  the  portion  thus  taken  by  the  govern- 
ment is  called  "  taxes." 

As  taxes  must  come  out  of  the  product 
of  labor,  the  share  which  the  laborer  gets 
must  be  diminished  by  their  imposition, 
hence  it  is  clearly  to  the  interest  of  the 


60  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

laborer  that  taxes  shall  be  as  light  as  pos- 
sible, consistent  with  the  furnishing  of  pro- 
tection to  life  and  property  by  the  govern- 
ment. 

80.  Wages. — A  name,  "  wages,"  is  given 
to  the  share  of  the  laborer  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  share  of  the  land-owner  and  that 
of  the  owner  of  the  wealth  employed  in 
production,  and  we  will  henceforth  use  that 
name,  meaning  by  "wages"  the  share  of 
the  product  of  the  labor  employed  in  pro- 
duction, which  goes  to  the  laborer  as  the 
reward  of  his  labor. 

81.  Capital.  —  It  is  also  desirable  to  give 
a  separate  name  to  that  part  of  wealth 
which  is  employed  in  producing  more 
wealth,  including  in  that  idea  not  only 
what  is  actually  employed  at  any  given 
moment  of  time,  but  also  the  "whole  of  a 
man's  stock  of  wealth  which  he  expects  to 
afford  him  a  revenue,"*  and  to  this  the 
term  "capital n  is  applied,  and  the  owners  of 
capital  are  termed  "capitalists."  The  share 
of  the  products  of  labor  which  the  capitalist 

*  Adam  Smith's  "  Wealth  of  Nations,"  Book  II.,  Chap.  I. 


PRIM/SR  OF  MORALS.  61 

receives  for  the  aid  to  production  rendered 
by  his  capital  is  called  "  interest."  The 
capitalist  is  said  also  to  earn  "  profit."  An 
analysis  of  profit  will  be  hereafter  made. 

82.  The  share  of  the  product  of  labor 
which  goes  to  the  appropriator  of  the  land 
is  termed  "rent."  The  word  "rent"  is  used 
in  ordinary  discourse  to  include  much  more 
than  this;  as,  for  instance,  the  payment 
made  for  the  use  of  a  house  and  the  land 
on  which  it  is  built,  the  payment  made  for 
the  use  of  a  farm  with  its  buildings  and 
improvements,  etc.;  but  such  payments  are 
compounded  of  rent  properly  so  called,  of 
interest  upon  the  capital  employed  in  build- 
ing and  improving,  and  of  compensation 
for  risk.  Wherever  in  this  work  the  term 
"rent"  is  used,  the  meaning  will  be  limited 
to  that  share  of  the  product  of  labor  which 
goes  to  the  owner  of  land  or  other  natural 
agent,  for  permission  to  apply  labor  upon 
it,  exclusive  of  the  payment  made  for  the 
use  of  buildings  and  other  improvements 
and  for  risk. 

83.  It  was .  truly  said  by  Adam  Smith 
that  "the  produce  of  labor  constitutes  the 

OF  THE 


62  PRIMER  OF  MORA  LS. 

natural  recompense  or  wages  of  labor"; 
but  most  laborers  are  unable  or  unwilling 
to  wait  till  the  product  of  their  labor  has 
acquired  a  form  in  which  it  can  supply  the 
present  needs  of  the  laborer  and  of  his 
family,  and  they  generally  desire  to  sell 
their  labor  or  to  transfer  their  right  to  the 
product  of  their  labor  for  an  order  on  the 
stock  of  wealth  possessed  by  any  member 
of  society  who  may  be  willing  to  sell  some- 
thing which  the  laborer  needs  to  buy. 

84.  The  purchaser  of  the  right  to  the 
product  of  labor  takes  upon  himself  the 
entire  risk  of  failure  of  crops,  fall  in  prices, 
and  the  like,  for  which  he  must  be  com- 
pensated by  such  a  share  of  the  product  as 
will  on  the  average  not  only  repay  what  he 
has  paid,  but  also  insure  him  against  loss 
from  such  failure.  In  all  cases  the  pur- 
chaser of  labor  desires  to  secure  the  greatest 
amount  of  future  products  in  return  for  his 
present  outlay;  hence  he  will  seek  for  the 
industrious  and  skillful  laborer  in  pref- 
erence to  the  slothful  or  ignorant,  the 
honest  to  the  dishonest,  the  careful,  trust- 
worthy,   and    sober   to    the   careless,  un- 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  63 

punctual,  and  drunken.  The  unhappy 
beings  who  are  subject  to  the  infirmities 
of  dishonesty,  idleness,  ignorance,  careless- 
ness, or  drunkenness,  either  will  get  no  em- 
ployment, or,  at  best,  must  sell  their  labor 
at  a  lower  rate  than  their  better-disposed 
and  better-trained  comrades,  because  the 
capitalist  can  only  afford  to  purchase  the 
labor  of  the  former  at  a  rate  of  wages  such 
as  shall  enable  him  to  employ  more  than 
ordinarily  efficient  foremen  to  prevent  or 
correct  the  mischiefs  which  the  misconduct 
of  the  ill-trained  laborers  might  otherwise 
occasion. 

He  must  also  himself  be  compensated 
for  the  additional  anxiety  and  labor  the 
employment  of  such  workmen  causes  him 
as  well  as  the  risk  incurred,  amounting 
to  an  actual  percentage  of  loss,  which  the 
diligence  of  himself  and  superintendents 
will  fail  to  avert. 

85.  The  application  of  these  principles 
to  daily  life  is  not  difficult.  Clearly,  they 
who  do  more  work  must,  when  paid  by  the 
piece,  receive  more  wages;  when  paid  by 
the  day,  those  who  work  the  greater  num- 


64  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

ber  of  days  will  receive  more  in  a  year  than 
they  who  work  fewer.  The  former,  be- 
coming known  as  reliable  and  punctual 
workmen,  and  year  by  year  acquiring 
greater  skill  in  consequence  of  uninter- 
mitted  labor,  gain  a  character  which  causes 
them  to  be  sought  after  by  capitalists,  and 
so  insure  to  themselves  more  constant  em- 
ployment or  a  higher  rate  of  wages,  and 
generally  both  combined. 

86.  Although  the  operation  of  these  na- 
tural laws  may  be  accompanied  with  suf- 
fering to  the  less  fortunate  laborers,  it 
nevertheless  works  to  their  advantage,  and 
particularly  so  to  the  young.  Placed  under 
the  watchful  eyes  of  trustworthy  over- 
lookers, opportunity  is  given  them  to  ac- 
quire that  skill  and  industry  in  which  they 
are  deficient,  while  the  difference  between 
their  wages  and  that  of  the  better  con- 
ducted workmen  affords  them  an  induce- 
ment to  grow  out  of  bad  habits  into  good 
ones. 

87.  How  Wages  may  be  Increased. — Im- 
provement, then,  in  the  conduct  of  laborers 
is  the  most  powerful  means  by  which  the 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  65 

productiveness  of  labor,  and  consequently  its 
remuneration,  can  be  increased. 

88.  Wages  Proportioned  to  Conduct — We 
thus  perceive  that,  other  things  being 
equal,  the  wages  earned  by  individual 
laborers  is  proportioned  to  their  conduct,  fur- 
nishing another  instance  of  that  harmony 
of  nature  whose  action,  when  uninterrupted 
by  man's  ignorance,  tends  to  encourage  and 
develop  those  qualities  which  most  con- 
duce to  human  well-being. 

89.  Some  statistics  of  labor,  its  remuner- 
ation and  results,  published  by  Mr.  Brassey, 
one  of  the  most  extensive  payers  of  wages, 
in  many  parts  of  the  world,  furnish  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  this  law. 

In  "  Work  and  Wages  Practically  Illus- 
trated," the  author  shows  that  notwith- 
standing the  great  and  striking  diversities 
in  the  rates  of  wages  in  different  com- 
munities, the  cost  of  a  given  amount  of  the 
products  of  labor  produced  in  any  country 
is  nearly  alike,  whether  it  be  produced 
there  by  native  or  by  foreign  labor.  As  a 
result,  Mr.  Brassey  found  that  in  Italy, 
Moldavia,  or  in  India,  any  piece  of  engi- 


66  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

neering  work  could  be  constructed  as 
cheaply  by  English  as  by  native  laborers 
— that  is  to  say,  that  notwithstanding  the 
higher  rates  of  wages  paid  to  British  labor- 
ers, the  greater  efficiency  of  their  labor 
rendered  it  equally  profitable  to  employ 
them  as  to  employ  the  natives. 

90.  The  necessary  dependence  of  wages 
upon  the  productiveness  of  labor  has  been 
also  demonstrated  by  Mr.  Henry  George, 
in  his  remarkable  work,  "  Progress  and 
Poverty,"  with  a  wealth  of  demonstra- 
tion that  leaves  nothing  further  to  be 
said. 

It  is  well  also  to  notice  the  fact  to  which 
Mr.  Greorge  calls  attention,  that  in  countries 
where  wages  are  high,  profits  are  generally 
large,  and  where  wages  are  low,  profits  are 
small. 

Since,  then,  as  seen  above,  inferior  laborers 
have  to  provide  subsistence  for  themselves 
and  those  dependent  upon  them  out  of 
their  wages  no  less  than  the  more  efficient 
laborer,  it  is  obvious  how  greatly  an 
increase  in  the  efficiency  of  the  laborers 
must  promote  their  well-being. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  67 

91.  Circumstances  Affecting  Wages  in 
Different  Trades. — There  are  yet  other  con- 
siderations which  affect  the  rates  of  wages 
of  different  occupations.  Some  trades  are 
easy,  others  severe,  some  healthful,  others 
unhealthful,  some  safe,  others  dangerous, 
some  constant,  others  intermittent,  some 
attractive,  and  others  repulsive.  The  pref- 
erence which  all  laborers  will  give  to  the 
easy,  healthful,  safe,  constant,  and  attractive 
labor  can  only  be  overcome  by  the  offer 
of  higher  wages  in  the  severe,  unhealthful, 
dangerous,  intermittent,  or  repulsive. 

92.  In  this  favored  country  there  are 
few  trades  in  which  diligence  and  economy 
will  not  secure  a  comfortable  living  to  the 
workman,  and  at  the  least  a  tolerable  com- 
petence for  old  age;  hence  the  choice  of 
employment  to  which  one  about  to  com- 
mence his  industrial  career  should  be 
directed  may  generally  be  safely  left  to  be 
determined  by  his  tastes  and  inclinations. 

"  But  the  selection  of  an  employer  is  of 
great  importance,  and  not  more  so  on  ac- 
count of  the  influence  of  the  employer  him- 
self than  of  the  workmen  he  employs;  for 


68  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

as  these  will  be  probably  for  years  the 
companion  of  the  new-comer,  the  selection 
of  an  employer  who  endeavors  to  employ 
the  best  workmen  should  be  the  first 
thought  of  the  parent  or  guardian  whose 
child  or  ward  is  about  entering  on  his 
industrial  career. 

"  Should  circumstances  arise  whereby  a 
good  workman  happens  to  be  thrown  into 
the  employment  of  a  bad  employer,  the 
latter  is  not  bound  to  stay  beyond  the  term 
of  service  contracted  for,  and  his  leaving 
will  be  wise,  provided  he  has  a  reasonable 
prospect  of  bettering  his  condition.  This 
he  may  be  enabled  to  do  either  by  being 
invited  by  other  employers,  or  by  seeking 
them,  or  he  may  resolve  to  employ  himself. 

"To  be  invited  by  other  employers,  he 
must  have  established  a  reputation  for  use- 
fulness ;  to  be  successful  in  seeking  better 
employment,  he  must  be  able  to  offer  evi- 
dence of  work  previously  performed;  while 
to  employ  himself  he  must  have  acquired 
the  qualifications  necessary  for  the  success- 
ful administration  of  capital,  and  must  have 
saved  from  his  past  earnings  the  capital 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  69 

necessary  for  the  subsistence  of  himself 
and  the  workmen  he  employs  until  the 
product  of  that  labor  can  be  realized  in 
the  market."* 

It  is  thus  clear  that  the  workmen  who 
suffer  from  insufficiency  of  wages  should 
look  to  their  own  deficiency  in  one  or  more 
of  the  industrial  virtues  as  the  cause,  and 
to  the  correction  of  such  defects  as  the 
efficient  means  for  attaining  good  wages. 

93.  Especially  is  this  true  in  countries  so 
happily  situated  as  our  own.  However  un- 
satisfactory may  be  the  present  condition 
of  any  working  man,  a  short  period  of  pro- 
bation and  labor  under  the  guidance  of  a 
skilled  farmer  will  suffice  for  him  to  acquire 
the  knowledge  and  skill  necessary  for  suc- 
cessfully farming  a  few  acres  of  the  unoc- 
cupied fertile  land  of  this  continent,  and  he 
can  then  betake  himself  to  a  calling  where 
the  return  for  his  labor  and  capital  will, 
if  combined  with  thrift,  soon  place  him  in 
a  position  of  secure  and  permanent  well- 
being. 

*  Ellis's  "Phenomena  of  Social  Life." 


70  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 

75. 

How  may  the  wealthless  obtain  a  share  of  wealth  to 
supply  their  immediate  wants? 

76. 

Who  have  the  enjoyment  of  the  wealth  employed  in  the 
purchase  of  the  right  to  the  future  product  of  labor? 

78. 

Can  the  productiveness  of  labor  be  increased,  and  how  ? 

79. 

What  is  the  name  given  to  the  share  of  the  product  of 
labor  taken  by  the  government?  What  is  the  laborers  inter- 
est with  regard  to  the  amount  taken  by  government  from  the 
product  of  labor?  Among  whom  is  the  product  of  labor 
divided  ? 

80. 
Define  wages. 

81. 
Define  capital. 

82. 

Define  rent.  Give  its  proper  meaning,  and  state  the  mean- 
ing in  which  it  is  often  used. 

83. 

Who  was  Adam  Smith  ?  What  did  he  call  the  natural 
recompense  or  wages  of  labor  ? 

84. 

What  kind  of  laborers  will  the  purchaser  of  labor  seek, 
and  why  ? 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  71 

85. 

Among  individual  sellers  of  labor,  who  will  get  the  best 

wages,  and  why  ? 

86. 

Does  the  getting  of  high  wages  by  the  best  laborers  work 

any  injury  to  inferior  laborers  ?    Give  the  reasons  for  your 

answer.  

87. 

What  aie  the  best  means  for  increasing  wages  t 

88. 

To  what  is  wages  proportioned  ? 

89. 

What  has  been  found  to  be  the  fact  as  to  the  effective- 
ness of  labor  and  its  reward  with  regard  to  the  employment 
of  different  races  of  laborers  ? 

91. 

Name  some  of  the  circumstances  affecting  the  wages  paid 

in  different  trades.  _  _ 

92. 

What  should  determine  in  this  country  the  selection  of  a 

trade  and  of  an  employer,  in  the  case  of  young  persons  about 

to  learn  a  trade  ?     How  may  a  good  workman  free  himself 

from  a  bad  employer?    To  what  should  workmen  look  as  the 

cause  of  insufficiency  in  their  wages  ?  and  how  should  they 

set  about  obtaining  good  wages  ? 

93. 

What  conditions  exist  in  the  United  States  more  favor- 
able to  the  happiness  of  the  workingman  than  in  other 
countries?  Can  an  industrious  man  in  the  United  States  do 
anything  to  secure  his  permanent  well-being  which  his  fellow- 
workmen  in  other  countries  cannot  do? 

Note. — The  attention  of  the  teacher  is  called  to  the  ex- 
tended use  of  the  word  *  *  conduct "  in  sections  87  and  88,  as 
including  the  results  of  physical,  mental,  and  moral  qualifi- 
cations. 


72  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Profit — Its  Uncertainty — Analysis  of  Profit — 
Rates  how  Determined. 

94.  Profit — The  owner  of  wealth  is  in- 
duced to  employ  his  wealth  as  capital,  in 
the  hope  of  thereby  procuring  an  increase 
to  his  stock. 

The  laborer,  when  he  takes  some  of  the 
savings  of  his  past  labor  and  exchanges  it, 
say  for  a  spade,  is  a  capitalist  to  that  ex- 
tent, and  makes  the  conversion  in  the 
expectation  that  he  will  thereby  be  able  to 
earn  more  in  the  future;  that  the  spade 
will  add  to  the  productiveness  of  his  future 
labor.  The  farmer  who  purchases  a  plow, 
a  harrow,  a  reaping  or  thrashing  machine, 
expects  that  the  wealth  thus  applied  to  the 
purpose  of  production  will,  before  the  im- 
plement be  worn  out,  be  returned  to  him, 
with  an  increase.  The  purchaser  of  labor 
expects  that  the  products  of  the  labor,  the 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  73 

right  to  which  he  has  purchased,  will  re- 
place to  him  the  wealth  paid  for  it,  with 
an  increase.  The  increase  thus  expected 
by  the  capitalist,  whether  upon  his  outlay 
for  a  spade,  buildings,  machinery,  or  wages, 
is,  wJim  realized,  termed  "profit";  it  is  the 
hope  of  profit  which  induces  the  owner  of 
wealth  to  employ  it  in  production.  But 
this  hope  may  not  be  realized.  The  wages 
of  the  laborer  are  in  hand  and  certain,  but 
the  profit  of  the  employer  is  in  the  future 
and  uncertain.  Crops  sometimes  fail,  cat- 
tle may  perish,  fires  destroy,  or  mistakes 
may  sweep  away  the  whole  or  a  great  part 
of  the  anticipated  product  of  the  labor  for 
which  present  wealth  has  been  expended. 
The  average  of  profit  must  therefore  be 
sufficient  to  counterbalance  these  risks,  or 
wealth  will  cease  to  be  converted  into  cap- 
ital. It  must  also  give  to  the  capitalist, 
as  administrator,  a  remuneration  equal  to 
what  he  could  earn  by  selling  his  labor. 

95.  Analysis  of  Profit. — Profit,  then,  may 
be  resolved  into  three  elements: 

1.  Remuneration  for  the  skill  and  labor 
of  the  capitalist  as  administrator; 


74  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

2.  Benmneration  for  the  risk  of  loss  he 
incurs  as  owner  of  the  capital,  or  insur- 
ance; 

3.  Eemuneration  for  the  use  of  his  cap- 
ital, to  which  last  the  name  of  "  interest " 
has  been  applied. 

96.  If,  now,  any  particular  calling  offered, 
to  those  engaged  in  it,  a  larger  profit,  in 
proportion  to  the  skill  and  labor  necessary 
for  its  prosecution,  to  its  attractiveness, 
and  to  the  risks  attending  it,  than  other 
callings,  other  capitalists  would  seek  to 
embark  their  capital  in  it,  or  those  engaged 
in  it  would  continually  increase  their  cap- 
ital, until  the  rate  of  profit  were  reduced 
to  something  approaching  uniformity. 

97.  Qualifications  of  a  Capitalist — The 
most  important  qualification  for  a  success- 
ful capitalist  will  be  a  combination  of 
economy  with  an  administrative  capacity, 
such  as  shall  enable  him  to  direct  the  labor 
he  purchases  so  as  to  yield  the  largest 
profit;  to  select  the  most  efficient  laborers, 
and  attract  them  to  his  service  by  offering 
them  the  largest  wages. 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  75 

98.  Of  the  profit  he  makes  through  his 
judicious  direction  of  the  labor  he  has  pur- 
chased, his  economy  teaches  him  to  save 
all  he  can,  so  that  he  may  be  able  to  earn 
a  further  profit,  by  adding  it  to  his  former 
capital,  and  employing  the  total  as  capital, 
by  fresh  purchases  of  labor.  Punctual  and 
trustworthy  in  fulfilling  his  own  engage- 
ments, he  possesses  judgment  to  intrust 
only  to  punctual  and  trustworthy  custom- 
ers and  agents  the  wealth  he  administers. 
He  who  possesses  less  discrimination  of 
character,  either  in  the  selection  of  laborers 
and  the  wages  he  pays,  or  in  the  direction 
he  gives  to  their  labor,  or  in  the  choice 
of  his  customers  and  agents,  or  is  himself 
wanting  in  economy  or  trustworthiness, 
receives  a  smaller  return  upon  the  labor 
he  directs,  or  is  less  saving  of  it  when 
obtained.  By  such  a  man  the  inducement 
to  employ  wealth  as  capital  is  diminished, 
and  if  his  incapacity  as  an  administrator 
of  capital  is  so  great  as  to  cause  the  loss 
of  the  capital  he  administers,  he  causes  an 
industrial  disturbance  whereby  laborers  are 
apt  to  be  deprived  of  the  opportunity  to  sell 


76  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

their  labor — :u  other  words,  laborers  are 
thrown  out  of  employment.  Thus  again 
loss  to  the  capitalist  tends  to  impose  loss 
and  suffering  on  the  laborer,  and  while  it 
is  the  interest  of  the  employer  to  render 
his  work  as  attractive  as  possible  to  the 
employed,  it  is  the  interest  of  the  latter 
to  make  his  labor  as  productive  as  possible 
to  his  employer  as  the  surest  means  of  ex- 
tending the  market  for  the  one  commodity 
he  seeks  to  sell — his  labor. 

99.  "When  to  this  consideration  is  added 
the  strengthening  of  those  good  habits  in 
the  laborer,  on  which  we  have  seen  his 
wages  so  much  depends,  as  well  as  the 
earning  of  a  character  for  possessing  them, 
the  importance  to  the  laborer  of  render- 
ing his  labor  as  productive  as  possible 
cannot  be  overestimated.  Hence  the  in- 
terests of  the  capitalist  and  of  the  laborer 
are  coincident. 

100.  We  sometimes  hear  capital  spoken 
of  as  the  enemy  of  labor.  "We  now  see  that 
it  is  its  best  friend.  Capital  in  the  hands 
of  the  capitalist  is  far  more  useful  to 
the  laborer  than  to  its  owner.     The  latter 


PRIMER  Oir  MORALS.  77 

enjoys  the  possible  and  probable,  but  by 
no  means  certain,  profit  in  the  future,  the 
laborers  have  the  present  use  of  the  entire 
capital  employed  in  the  purchase  of  labor; 
while  to  the  owner  his  capital  is  of  use 
only  as  a  provision  against  future  need, 
to  the  laborer  it  furnishes  the  means  of 
present  subsistence,  without  which,  he  and 
those  dear  to  him  might  perish  for  want. 
101.  In  our  analysis  of  profits,  section 
95,  we  said  that  it  consists : 

1.  Of  remuneration  for  the  skill  and 
labor  of  the  capitalist  as  administrator, 
i.  e.,  of  wages,  and  its  amount  is  therefore 
governed  by  the  same  principles  as  those 
which  determine  the  rates  of  wages  gen- 
erally; 

2.  Of  remuneration  for  the  risk  of  loss, 
an  element  which  is  very  small  among 
those  who  sell  their  labor,  and  has  there- 
fore very  little  effect  upon  wages;  and; 

3.  Of  remuneration  for  the  use  of  his 
capital,  that  is,  interest. 

This  last  represents  the  reward  which 
those  whose  labor  produced  the  capital 
would  receive  through  the  natural  increase, 


78  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

had  they  not  preferred  to  dispose  of  their 
rights  thereto  for  present  enjoyment;  and 
other  things  equal,  the  amount  of  interest 
must,  like  wages,  vary  with  the  productive- 
ness of  labor. 

REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 
94. 

What  induces  the  owner  of  wealth  to  employ  it  as  capital? 
What  is  profit?  When  is  a  laborer  also  a  capitalist?  la 
profit  certain  ?     Prove  your  answer. 

95. 

Analyze  profit. 

96. 

What  is  the  tendency  of  the  rate  of  profit  in  different 
trades  ? 

97. 

Name  some  of  the  qualifications  of  a  successful  capitalist. 

98. 

Who,  if  any  one,  is  benefited  besides  the  capitalist  by  the 
profit  he  realizes  ?    Prove  your  answer. 

99. 

Are  the  interests  of  the  capitalist  and  the  laborer  antag- 
onistic or  coincident?    Prove  your  answer. 

100. 

What  is  labor*s  best  friend,  and  why  ? 

101. 

How  is  the  remuneration  for  the  skill  of  the  capitalist  as 
administrator  determined  ?  With  what  does  the  average  rate 
of  interest  vary,  leaving  risk  of  loss  out  of  consideration  J 


OP  TRB 

"CTNIVEHSIT' 
PRIMER  OF  MORALS, 


CONCLUSION. 


102.  As  the  prudent  merchant  at  stated 
intervals  takes  stock  of  his  possessions,  so 
let  us  now  sum  up  what  the  preceding  les- 
sons have  taught  us. 

103.  We  have  learned  that  the  success 
and  happiness  of  each  individual  depends 
upon  his  own  efforts  and  conduct,  and  that 
he  should  look  upon  each  instance  of  fail- 
ure on  his  part  as  a  consequence  of  some 
error  in  judgment  or  conduct  of  his  own. 
Happy,  indeed,  for  him  that  this  is  so.  His 
own  conduct  he  will  be  able  to  control  in 
the  future,  and  so  prevent  a  recurrence  of 
like  failure.  Were  failure  or  success  de- 
pendent, not  on  one's  own  conduct,  but 
upon  that  of  others,  miserable,  indeed, 
would  be  the  lot  of  man. 

104.  Happily,  the  harmonies  of  social  life 
render  individual  success  dependent  on  the 


80  PRIM  El!  OF  MORALS. 

services  rendered  by  the  individual  to  so- 
ciety at  the  same  time  that  they  leave  him 
master  of  his  own  future.  Occasional,  and 
sometimes  dazzling,  instances  are  met  with 
of  success  which  has  seemed  to  violate  the 
laws  of  conduct  we  have  evolved.  Occa- 
sionally we  find  crime  meeting  not  merely 
with  temporary  success,  but  crowned  with 
a  false  glory,  calculated  to  tempt  the  weak 
and  to  subvert  all  notions  of  right  and 
wrong.  Occasionally,  too,  we  find  instances 
of  heroism  and  virtue  overwhelmed  with 
misfortune. 

But  these  instances  of  criminal  success, 
or  of  good  men  suffering  unmerited  misfor- 
tune, need  have  no  effect  to  weaken  our 
confidence  in  the  rules  of  conduct  herein 
established.  The  causes  of  such  success  or 
of  such  misfortnne  will  always  be  easily 
discovered  in  the  ignorance  or  lack  of  hon- 
esty prevailing  among  the  people  in  whose 
midst  they  occur. 

In  our  own  country,  when  we  trace  the 
career  of  these  vicious  men,  we  find  their 
successes,  even  the  most  dazzling,  to  be  but 
ephemeral, 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  81 

Pursuing  their  evil  courses  the  more  per- 
sistently for  their  success,  sooner  or  later 
detection  and  punishment  fall  upon  them; 
while  the  continual  dread  of  detection  has, 
of  itself,  been  a  heavy  punishment  from 
which  they  could  never  set  themselves  free. 

105.  It  will  now  be  a  useful  exercise  to 
try  and  determine  some  rule  or  canon  by 
which  to  recognize  good  and  evil,  some 
measure  by  which  to  determine  the  charac- 
ter of  all  human  acts  and  conduct.  Such  a 
rule  can  readily  be  determined  by  a  refer- 
ence to  what  has  been  already  learned. 

106.  Why  did  we  find  it  to  be  a  good 
thing  that  men  should  be  honest  and  truth- 
ful? Why  industrious,  saving,  skillful, 
sober,  obliging,  and  well-mannered?  It 
was  because  these  qualities  were  found  to 
promote  the  happiness  of  all,  and  partic- 
ularly of  the  individual  practicing  these 
virtues. 

For  the  opposite  reason,  we  learned  it 
would  be  evil  for  men  to  be  idle,  to  lie, 
to  steal,  to  cheat,  to  use  false  weights  and 
measures,  to  violate  engagements,  to  live 
beyond  one's  means,  or  even  up  to  them. 


82  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

107.  We  found  it  to  be  good  conduct 
to  sell  one's  labor,  and  having  sold  it,  to 
render  it  as  productive  as  possible  to  the 
purchaser.  Good,  also,  to  purchase  labor, 
and  having  purchased  it,  to  direct  it  to 
the  best  advantage,  and  punctually  to  pay 
the  price  of  its  hire.  We  found  it  to  be 
good  conduct  to  administer  capital  success- 
fully, to  provide  good  teaching  and  train- 
ing for  the  young,  and  exceedingly  bad 
conduct  to  neglect  to  make  such  provision. 

108.  So  far  as  we  are  able  to  judge  from 
the  accounts  given  us  in  books  of  history, 
the  condition  of  the  world  into  which  the 
children  of  to-day  have  been  born  is  far 
to  be  preferred  to  what  that  condition  was 
five  hundred,  two  hundred,  or  even  fifty 
years  ago. 

The  buildings,  roads,  docks,  canals,  har- 
bors, ships,  and  telegraphs,  which  minister 
so  wonderfully  to  our  comforts,  are  the 
results  of  a  large  prevalence  of  the  con- 
duct we  have  called  good.  By  like  con- 
duct, these  and  additional  comforts  will  be 
preserved  and  secured  for  future  enjoy- 
ment;  while  bad  conduct  injures  and  de- 


PRIMER  OF  MORALS.  83 

stroys  wJiat  exists,  and  hinders  the  pro- 
duction of  more. 

109.  We  can  now  see  clearly  the  rule  or 
canon  by  which  to  determine  the  character 
of  conduct,  and  what  is  good  and  evil. 
That  is  good  which  on  a  balance  of  all  its 
consequences  tends  to  promote  human  hap- 
piness; and  that  is  evil  which  on  a  like 
consideration  is  found  to  tend  to  diminish 
it;  and  the  goodness  or  badness  of  con- 
duct must  be  tested  by  its  tendency  to 
produce  consequences  favorable  or  unfa- 
vorable to  human  happiness. 

REVIEW  QUESTIONS. 

103. 

What  are  the  lessons  chiefly  taught  in  the  foregoing 
pages?  On  what  do  success  and  happiness  or  failure  and 
discomfort  mainly  depend?  Is  it  well  or  not  that  such 
should  be  the  case,  and  why? 

104. 

What  should  we  think  of  cases  in  which  success  seems 
to  violate  the  laws  of  conduct  we  have  evolved  ? 

105. 

Why  did  we  agree  that  it  was  a  good  thing  to  be 
honest?  Truthful?  Industrious?  Saving?  Skillful?  Sober? 
Obliging?    And  why  is  it  bad  to  be  the  reverse  of  these? 


84  PRIMER  OF  MORALS. 

107, 

What  is  exceedingly  bad  conduct  on  the  part  of  elders 
to  the  young? 

108. 

Have  we  any  means  of  comparing  the  condition  of 
children  to-day  with  that  of  children  in  past  times?  What 
are  those  means  ?  and  what  do  they'  teach  us  ?  Of  what 
kind  of  conduct  are  the  buildings,  roads,  docks,  canals, 
and  the  like,  now  in  existence,  the  results? 

109. 

Give  a  rule  for  determining  the  character  of  conduct. 


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